Summer Member News

CBAS Treasurer Jo Diamantes sent us this summer vacation post. More posts about CBAS member activities are welcomed. Send us a few images and your story.

This is my report about "what I did" during my summer. I went to Taos, NM as a participant in "The Art of Keeping a Sketchbook Journal in Taos, New Mexico" workshop offered by the Art Academy of Cincinnati and taught by Amy Bogard. We stayed at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, a National Historic Landmark. We enjoyed fabulous breakfast and lunch meals there and I stayed in the Willa Cather room. That should whet your interest in this historic inn and conference center. We visited Taos Pueblo, Earthships, the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge and Rio Grande River, and the very famous (because it is the subject of so many paintings) St. Francis de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos. We had lovely dinners at such places as The Love Apple, Guadalajara Grill and Doc Martin's to name a few. 

We watched one of those wonderful New Mexico sunsets and many of us watched sunrises over the mountains behind Taos. This was my second time taking this workshop and I'm ready to go back again!




I stayed in NM an extra day and took in the tour of Georgia O'Keeffe's house in Abiquiu. Making the reservation to be one of 12 on one of the tours several months ahead of time was well worth it. We saw her main house where she lived in Abiquiu, NM. It was pretty much as she had left it in the 1980s, including herbs in the jars in the kitchen and a Kenmore mangle. Did you know her property has water rights for two hours every Monday?

So I had a great summer—what did you do? Love to hear about it. And now I've got to get back to making some books for the November sale and thinking about my entry for the CBAS "Bookworks" exhibition next year.

                                    

Bookworks 13 Gets a Great Review in Citybeat

Veronica Sorcher's Gone

Judith Serling-Sturm's Amendments Project #4

Have you seen the Bookworks 13 exhibit at the Main Library yet? Citybeat reporter Selena Reder did and was impressed. Check out her great article in the July 18 issue.
www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-25834-bound_by_ideas_at_cincinnati_public_library.html

Two views of Janice Kagermeier's Uncle Melvin Looks Back (outside, above; inside, below)

JULY STUDY GROUP LEARNS A FLEXIBLE NEW BINDING

Study Group members met on July 14 to make the Crossed Structure Binding developed by Spanish book artist Carmencho Arregui. Longtime Study Group member and Art Academy of Cincinnati faculty member April Foster did a great job leading a productive and enjoyable session at the Northside Branch Library. About a dozen members, at first daunted by what looked like a complex and difficult structure, left inspired to explore some of the many variations downloadable from Arregui's website www.outofbinding.com.

Everyone came prepared with a pre-cut and folded text block and decorative paper for the lining. Using the template above (made from a single sheet of paper), we cut vinyl for the covers.

 April then showed us how to set up our workspaces using only a cutting mat, metal ruler and binder clips. Everyone concentrated on stitching the signatures together, linen thread over the straps creating a beautifully decorative spine.

 One of the session's highlights was learning about April's ingenious sewing frame, made using a design by Carmencho Arregui. Anchored to the table with C clamps, the frame is made from a single strip of aluminum, bent to specifications. Study Group members were impressed by its portability and minor expense compared to traditional sewing frames.

By the end of the session, almost everyone had completed a beautiful crossed structure binding. We left Study Group with lots of new ideas for variations using heavy paper or leather for the covers, and endless possibilities for embellishment. Many thanks to April for a really inspiring session!

                                                              [Thanks for Janice K. for this post.]

Looking & Learning at Bookworks 13

Sunday afternoon was the first walk-through of Bookworks 13, the annual CBAS exhibition at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Eight CBAS artists discussed their pieces in the show with library visitors. A big THANK YOU! to CBAS members Nancy, Janice, Jeanne, Paula, Carol, Peg, Veronica and Cecie who shared stories about what led them to create their books, the messages they hoped the books would convey and information about materials and processes. Visitors had good questions to make it a lively conversation.

The exhibition is a feast for those who love book art, with everything from scrolls to accordions to star books to traditional book structures and much more in between. There are fine bindings, altered books and even a Jacob's ladder. Content ranges from the personal to the political to the universal.

Thanks to the library staff—Jeanne Strauss-DeGroote, Kate Lawrence, Cindy Benesch and the graphics department—for again delighting us with the installation.

If you could not make it to the first walk-through, you will have another chance to hear from different artists at walk-through number two, Sunday, August 26, from 2-4 p.m. in the atrium space at the library, 800 Vine Street. Bookworks 13 closes on September 2.

A STITCH IN TIME

A STITCH IN TIME: A HISTORICAL JOURNEY OF SEWING BOOKS

WORKSHOP WITH BONNIE STAHLECKER

JUNE 9 AND 10

“What a wonderful workshop - and such splendid folks to spend two days with.” 

“Want to give everyone a big THANKS for their grounding influence in my life as we stitched our way thru history this weekend.”  “You all created a great environment for intense learning.  I'm exhausted but so proud of all that was accomplished.  Amazing to me that so many different skills and techniques were learned!”

These are a few of the comments from the participants at the “Stitch in Time” workshop with Indianapolis book artist Bonnie Stahlecker, an unqualified success and really energizing learning experience for a dozen CBAS members.  

  

From the moment we walked into the room and saw how carefully the room had been set up and everyone's workshop kit prepared, we knew this was going to be a great workshop experience.

During the course of two non-stop 9-5 days that went like lightning, participants learned the history of and made 7 historical book structures: a tacket binding (the most ancient binding form), an Ethiopian variation on Coptic stitching bound in beautiful red oak boards, herringbone stitching on goatskin supports, raised double cord binding with packed sewing, French sewing and catch stitch sewing - both on linen tapes, and a longstitch book.  For a group where it’s not uncommon to leave with one or more unfinished projects, the fact that all of us finished all 7 structures was extraordinary and a testament to how well organized and perfectly timed Bonnie’s workshop was.

The Art Academy’s Community Education room was an ideal, light-filled setting for the workshop, and everyone was thrilled to learn that the Art Academy has offered the room for regular meetings of the CBAS Study Group.

Thanks to Cecie Chewning for keeping track of reservations and for hosting a post-workshop pizza and salad dinner; Jo Diamantes for taking care of all the details including set-up and providing that essential ingredient - snacks!; Janice Kagermeier for hosting Bonnie during her stay; Bobbi Vallery for making arrangements for us to use the Community Education Room at the Art Academy; Bonnie Stahlecker for a perfectly organized, enjoyable and truly inspiring workshop; and most of all, an enthusiastic and eager-to-learn group of CBAS members for putting their all into learning an enormous amount of information in just two days.

And now it’s time to practice all those stitches we learned!

PREP for BOOKWORKS 13

Dianne snaps a photo of one of Alice Balterman's books

 

Tuesday, June 5, was the big day for photography of all the pieces that will be in Bookworks 13, the annual CBAS exhibition at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, 800 Vine Street. Library Liaison Jeanne Strauss-De Groote had reserved a meeting room for the photo shoot and had all the books ready on rolling carts. Intrepid artist, photographer and CBAS member Dianne Dennis again donated her time and expertise to snap images for a CD that will be available at the end of the exhibition. Jo Diamantes and Cecie Chewning worked as Dianne’s assistants to help the day go smoothly. It was truly a team effort. The entries this year are outstanding. They will be installed in the library’s first floor atrium on Monday, June 11, and the exhibition officially opens to the public the following day, June 12. Up throughout the summer, the exhibition closes on September 2.

Packing up the equipment

NOTE: Be sure to mark your calendar to attend one or both of the walk-throughs of Bookworks 13 on Sunday, June 24, and Sunday, August 26. Artists will be on hand from 2 until 4 those afternoons to talk with the public about their books.

News from the CBAS Study Group...

Bobbi Vallery's Star Book

Study Group Member's Shine

The CBAS Study Group has been on a roll this year, and our May 12th meeting kept us moving right along. Bobbi Vallery did a great job simplifying what everyone had thought would be a really complicated structure, the star book. Bobbi's beautifully illustrated example of the form, inspired by a vacation in a cabin in the woods, was one of the highlights of last year's Bookworks exhibit.

Peg's star book

Bobbi made up kits with pre-cut boards and paper, which made assembling the structures possible in a short meeting. That left us with enough time to add dimension to our books by cutting through the book's four layers. From the same basic kit of blank paper, the ten study group members present at the Northside Branch Library, showed their creativity by completing different and wonderfully imaginative books.

Sara's star book

Robin's star book

Thanks to Bobbi and to all who came - you are what makes the CBAS Study Group a success!!